VICTORIA, British Columbia - Welfare recipients in British Columbia are being offered winter clothes as an incentive to switch from checks to direct bank deposits.

Employment and Income Assistance Minister Claude Richmond said the $200,000 incentive program will give away 10,000 "cold weather kits" containing a knapsack, socks, a toque and a pair of gloves for recipients who go direct deposit, the Victoria (B.C.) Times-Colonist reported.

Richmond said the measure was aimed at reducing lines at ministry offices and saving recipients fees charged by check-cashing outlets.

The ministry said 60,224 people -- about 80 percent of welfare recipients -- use direct deposit.

The province's welfare system pays an employable single person $610 a month, while a single parent with one child receives $946. Two parents with two children receive $1,101 a month, the report said.